To think this café owner is a CF...

[ooohthepriceofbutter]

...to charge £4 for 2 small bottles of water to take away?

Not a swanky brand, think plain Highland Spring in 500ml plastic bottles, and screw caps, not even sports caps. Water had been in the fridge, but it was to take away so he didn't even open the bottles, let alone provide use of glasses, ice, a table and chairs, loo etc. It's just an ordinary café, not a Michelin star restaurant.

When I politely and quietly declined it and asked for my money back, he loudly called me 'very rude' in front of other customers.

Five minutes down the road, I was able to buy exactly the same for 60p. This was out of the fridge too, in a little rural village shop, where perhaps you'd expect to pay a few pence more to help keep it going.

I wasn't rude, but was the café owner otherwise right in his pricing? AIBU to think this is CF-ery? Profiteering against walkers and tourists in this scorching hot weather?

NC as this is local to me.

Torn it is complicated isn't it. I used to run a takeaway shop and the VAT on items kept warm and sold hot have been subject to VAT since Nigel Lawson brought it in in the 80s. Then the government decided that all food sold hot should be subject to VAT. Then chains like Greggs kicked up such a fuss about it the government caved and said fine, only food kept warm via a hot cabinet and sold hot will be charged vat but if it's cooked and sold hot straight from the oven then there will be no vat charge. Hence Greggs then removing their warming plates and just cooking hot food more regularly and keeping it in unheated cabinets to avoid vat. Customers were complaining about Luke warm sausage rolls at the time!

To small businesses this was detrimental because they don't have the vast turnover of customers to cook say sausage rolls throughout the day and them still being warm by the time customers buy them. We used to get so many customers saying "but I thought the government had scrapped the vat charge?" And we would have to explain that vat has been charged on hot food since the 80s but now because of Greggs and the like it's only charged on food kept warm in a cabinet.. it was confusing and frustrating.

But if you allow customers to eat in at a table it's subject to vat but to take the food away it isn't..

My favourite bit about this thread was the poster insisting that 250ml is standard small size

I paid £2 for a similiar sized bottled yesterday - but I was really hot and thirsty so it was worth it!

I know, mango, don't tell the CF café owner that, or he'll be charging double for a 'large' 500ml

250ml is standard.

If you're one of the borrowers. [santa]

My favourite bit about this thread was the poster insisting that 250ml is standard small size grin

It is! in Hobbiton ;-)

I think that's what he's bargaining on, Knitted. It was hard to walk away from cool drinks in the heat, particularly after a stressful time, but my principles and his rudeness carried me along.

Luckily the thirsty young DCs agreed it was too much to pay. They've been brought up to watch the pennies and not waste money. Chips off the old block.

How much did he charge for chips off the old block? ;-)

Typical mumsnetters, returning the humour to the thread with talk of Borrowers and Hobbits. Thanks

I don't think he serves chips Torn, except for the giant one on his shoulder about women politely objecting to his prices

We got fed up of throwing salt (and vinegar) into her wounds!

Might as well laugh :-)

Anyone fancy meeting up in an over-priced café with less-charming-brother-of-Basil-Fawlty owner? Bring your own water!

You started it!!!

(Fawlty Towers reference!)

lol @ butter giving someone's car a good going over with a branch!

All over the price of water

But who does the car belong to?!

That's expensive, even for a café, around these parts. I often order spring water in the local cafes around here, pay no more than £1.20, and they are still making a good profit.

Too late to ask now!

To be fair, a cafe in a local village vs one in central London will have huge differences in overheads, and therefore prices of their foods. And was this a cafe, or restaurant?

Is it:
a. CF café owner?
b. One or 2 pps?
c. MNHQ for questionable refereeing?
d. The CF, (whole new thread, I'm not going there), who injured my pwecious likkle DC, and ultimately caused the exorbitant water purchase in the first place?

Answer-messages in a (water) bottle please.

I'd never buy water to take out from a cafe - you know its going to be a lot more than from the corner shop. I'd only do that if I was parched and there was no other option.

Everything else aside, to the poster that said use refillable bottles, cafes, restaurants etc will be happy to fill it up for free, because water is free out of the tap.

No it’s bloody not, does no one else pay water rates?

RTFT, it was a café, Torn

Not part of a chain, near a rural village, far far far far far away from London and its CF/massive overhead prices.